Trial Mode

Trial Mode is a bonus mode in the Zodiac versions of Final Fantasy XII. Using the save data from the game, the Trial Mode will load the characters and their current stats, which means if there are guests in the data, they will be loaded into the Trial Mode as well.

The mode has 100 stages, and after completing each 10th stage, the player can save their progress and receive a reward. In the International Zodiac Job System version, Trial Mode saves and Game Data saves are meant to be separated, because if the Game Data is overwritten by the Trial Mode save, the Game Data will be lost. In The Zodiac Age version, players can save Trial Mode data to their main game save and receive items, but overwriting that save with a main game save will erase the Trial Mode progress. In this version, it is possible to farm items from the Trial Mode. For example, if the player wants Ribbons from Stage 49, they should steal one, beat the floor, and go to the next one. At Stage 50, the player should exit back to the title screen, load their game save to lose the trial progress (the player keeps the Ribbon). The player can save their game, return to the title screen, and start Trial Mode again from Stage 1.

In The Zodiac Age, the game also performs an auto-save at the beginning of every stage.

There is no shop accessible between stages, so the player should bring as many useful items as possible before starting the Trial Mode. Each stage also has treasure chests, and the enemies yield various items and equipment. Any status effects present on a character, beneficial or negative, are retained from one stage to the next.

Completing the 50th stage in The Zodiac Age awards the "Judge Magister" trophy/achievement. Completing the final stage awards the "Imperator" trophy/achievement. Additionally, enemies defeated in Trial Mode are added to the game's bestiary, including both Rare Game and Trophy Rare Game enemies.

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Optional means that specific enemy is not mandatory to defeat to pass the trial, and is not even necessary for it to appear. For example, against the Ba'Gamnan gang, defeating the leader will end the fight, therefore his allies are optional.

The player obtains items from the enemies and from the treasures placed on the battlefield. Almost all enemies can be stolen from with the same success chance as in the main game (equipping Thief's Cuffs improves success rate). The enemies yield different items than in the main game. The main enemies tend to yield equipment, and the regular enemies that accompany them often give useful motes and healing items. Some enemies are optional spawns, and if the player discovers how to spawn them, they can usually be poached. The optional spawns tend to have a very low chance of dropping an Elixir when killed. Enemies don't yield loot, only items that can actually be used during the trials.

Trial Mode cleared.

Enemies that must be defeated to complete the stage do not drop items, apart from the initial Stage 45 enemies that must be defeated before the proper trial enemy appears. Having the applicable Monographs and Canopic Jar yields more drops like in the main game, but the Monographs usually yield Knots of Rust, and the Canopic Jar very rarely yields Dark Matter.

Most stages have two treasures, though some have more. The treasures are usually different depending on whether the looter equips the Diamond Armlet or not. Three late stages have random chance for which treasure the player gets, like most of the treasures in the main game. Treasures must be looted mid-battle. Every ten stages, the player also gets a bonus reward.

Jelly x8, Melt (optional)For Melt to appear, the player must kill at least five Jellies, but not all of them, then stand in front of the gate switch facing the wall.Location:Henne Mines Pithead Junction A

Bansat, Seeq Fisher x4, Apsara (optional)Apsara appears when the player passes by some puddles, to the other side of a large rock.This area has unusually many chests: five.Location:Giza Plains (Rains) Tracks of the Beast

UltimaThe stage has cycling handicaps from HP Sap, MP Sap, Magick/Attack/Technick commands disabled as soon as Ultima uses Holyja. The stage has 16 treasures that all have the same loot, although there is a small chance to get a different item with Diamond Armlet.Location:Great Crystal Crystal Peak (Mist)

The Trial Mode was added due to a flaw in the original version of Final Fantasy XII where players who bother to unlock the game's best weapons, will find they don't have any strong enough monsters left to try them on. The Trial Mode was envisioned as a challenge for this very purpose. Hiroyuki Ito, the director of Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System, had heard that the bonus fight mode added to the Game Boy Advance version of Final Fantasy VI was popular, so he wanted to try something similar.[1] Trial Mode is designed for players to use trial-and-error and find new gambit configurations and explore the Gambit system in a new way.[2] Thus, the player can't run though the whole gauntlet with just one gambit configuration.